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  Background & Objectives: Excess body fat percentage is one of the risk factors in the progression of chronic diseases. Anthropometric indices of obesity are screening tools to determine subjects at risk of cardiovascular disease all over the world. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between abdominal obesity and the early stage of atherosclerosis by Carotid Intima- Media Thickness (CIMT) on women .

  Methods: This cross-sectional study involved 100 healthy women aged 18–50 year. Anthropometric indices were measured and calculated according to standard protocol. Cut off points for waist circumference (WC), waist to hip ratio (WHR) and waist to height ratio (WHtR) were 88 cm, 0.8 and 0.5 respectively Carotid Intima- Media Thickness was determined by using non-invasive ultrasound as an indicator of early stage of atherosclerosis. Subjects with mean CIMT≤0.8 mm and CIMT>0.8 mm were considered as "normal subjects" and "subjects at risk", respectively.

  Results: Average age of subjects was 30.96±8.1 and the mean of WC, WHR, WHtR and CIMT were 95±0.17, 0.87±0.08, 0.61±0.11 and 0.63±0.15, respectively. All abdominal anthropometric indices significantly associated with mean CIMT. Waist circumference with cut off point of 88 Cm had sum of sensitivity and specificity higher than WHR and WHtR.

  Conclusion: Waist circumference index with cut off point of 88 cm is better than WHR and WHtR to identify subjects at high risk of atherosclerosis.

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Background & objectives: Considering the high prevalence of body image dissatisfaction and its consequences, it is necessary to consider effective interventions to reduce it. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of a balanced low calorie diet (BLCD) and slight weight loss on the body image score and its subscales.
Methods: In this clinical trial, 74 apparently healthy, non-pregnant, non-lactating and non-menopausal women (age range: 18-49 years with body mass index range: 27.5-40 kg/m²) were selected using random sampling method from a nutrition clinic in their first visit in Ardabil city between November 2019 and February 2020. Data collection was done by Anthropometric measurements and multidimensional body self-relations questionnaire. The paired T-test was used to compare the changes during 4 - week balanced low calorie diet intervention. BLCD was an individualized diet with an energy deficit of 500 calories of daily energy intake that was calculated from 3-day food records for every person.
Results: After 4 weeks, BLCD resulted in a significant decrease in body weight (p=0.001), body mass index (p=0.001), waist circumference (p=0.002), waist to height ratio (p=0.012), abdominal volume index (p=0.009) and conicity index (p=0.045) and a significant increase in the subscale scores of fitness evaluation (p=0.01), health orientation (p=0.03), body area satisfaction (p=0.01) and overweight preoccupation (p=0.001).
Conclusion: According to the results, it seems that even slight weight loss with a balanced low-calorie diet can be effective in improving anthropometric indices and some subscales of body image in 4 weeks. These results support the effectiveness of short-term interventions.